The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) hosted a Gas, Refining and Petrochemicals Forum during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), presenting details of its recently announced gas strategy and its plans to further develop its refining and petrochemicals’ resources and create new downstream growth opportunities.
ADNOC provided further details of how its new integrated gas strategy, recently approved by Abu Dhabi’s Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC), will drive the development and delivery of new gas resources to enable the UAE to achieve gas self-sufficiency, with the ultimate goal of becoming a net gas exporter. At its meeting, the SPC announced new discoveries of gas in place, totaling 15 trillion standard cubic feet.
“Our significant investment in commercially developing our gas resources will enable us to achieve self-sufficiency in gas and transition to being a net exporter of gas,” said Abdulmunim Al Kindy, director of ADNOC’s Upstream Directorate. “At the same time, it supports our ongoing journey to become a leading, global downstream player that positions Abu Dhabi and the UAE as a major hub in the global refining and petrochemicals value chain.”
Under its new gas strategy, ADNOC will develop the Hail, Ghasha and Dalma mega-project that taps into Abu Dhabi’s Arab formation, which is estimated to hold many trillions of cubic feet of recoverable gas. The project is expected to produce more than 1.5bn cubic feet of gas per day around the middle of the next decade.
ADNOC will also unlock other sources of gas, which include Abu Dhabi’s gas caps and unconventional gas reserves, as well as new natural gas accumulations, which will continue to be appraised and developed as the company pursues its exploration activities. ADNOC’s unconventional resources are expected to produce 1bn standard cubic feet of gas per day, before 2030, while the development of its gas caps is expected to produce an additional 500mn standard cubic feet of gas per day for processing by 2030, from its Umm Shaif gas cap.
Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi government’s decision earlier this year to open six oil and gas blocks for competitive bidding is expected to identify further gas resources; the six onshore and offshore blocks are estimated to hold multiple trillion cubic feet of gas.
On Sunday, ADNOC announced the awarding of a 40% stake in the Ruwais Diyab unconventional gas concession to Total. Under the terms of the agreement, Total will explore, appraise and develop the concession area’s unconventional gas resources. ADNOC also announced an agreement with ENI on Tuesday, awarding it a 25% stake in the Ghasha concession, comprised of the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma and other offshore fields.
ADNOC’s new gas strategy will also sustain its LNG production to 2040 and aims to allow ADNOC to seize incremental LNG and gas-to-chemicals growth opportunities. It aims to expand international LNG trading in response to the dominant role that Asian markets are expected to play in driving demand for liquefied natural gas.
In that vein, ADNOC signed a framework agreement with Saudi Aramco to jointly assess investment opportunities across the LNG value chain that could drive revenue growth for both companies. The two regional oil and gas giants will also partner on techno-economic feasibility studies and exchange knowledge and experience in LNG growth markets.
